Posts Categorized: Construction & Engineering

Bath College have four students who are competing in WorldSkills UK live, the home of the UK National Finals of more than 70 WorldSkills UK Competitions, giving the most talented apprentices and students the chance to be named as the UK’s best in their chosen skill.

The competitions challenge and assess an individual’s applied knowledge, technical ability and employability skills against a set of performance criteria, with finalists competing for gold, silver and bronze medals and the opportunity to be selected to join Squad UK to train for future international competitions.

Two Refrigeration students, Chandler and Kevin, have made the top six for SkillFRIDGE as well as two Stonemasonry students who have made the top eight for Stonemasonry in SkillBuild.

Bath College is the only training provider in the 2018 SkillFRIDGE competition to see two of its students make the top six: Chandler Davison and Kevin Ballantine.

Chandler (pictured above), who has topped the national rankings and will be the recipient of the SkillFRIDGE National Winner accolade, is employed by Thermocold Ltd – a family-run business working in and around the South West region – and is set to complete his four year apprenticeship course in September.

Speaking on what led him into the refrigeration and air conditioning industry, Chandler said: “It was a great apprenticeship programme to enter at college and was a subject that I was interested in, especially due to the fact that my Dad has worked in the industry his entire life.”

Kevin spent fifteen years in other trades before pursuing a career in RACHP (refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump systems), after his elder brother asked him to partner with him and start their own company; TKB Air Conditioning.

Following a year on the tools, Kevin opted for a course with Bath College. He notes: “We decided it would be beneficial for me to get a qualification in the industry to help us progress further.

“I signed up to a two-year apprenticeship with a possibility of doing a third after. I’ve just completed my first year and it’s all going well so far.”

Josh Underwood and Hartaj Hunjan (pictured above) came first and second in the regional heats of the SkillBuild Stonemasonry competition in the stonemasonry workshop at the Somer Valley Campus and have now made it to the final at WorldSkills UK live.

Hartaj is delighted to have made the final: “I was quite surprised to finish where I did as I tried last year and didn’t quite make it. It’s great to see how much I’ve improved in a year.”

Last Friday, 36-foot tall mechanical puppet Man Engine came to Bath College Somer Valley Campus to put on an amazing show, all the while giving an insight into Radstock’s mining history.

The sun was shining at the ‘Afternooner’ performance which brought in hundreds of local families.

Crowds were entertained by The Natural Theatre Company and the Midsomer Norton & Radstock silver band.

The ‘Afterdarker’ performance continued to thrill crowds with the added spectacle of uplighting and pyrotechnics.

Nicki Smith attended the evening performance and said “What a fantastic experience! Inspiring story-telling, incredible engineering and poignant details. Thank you for coming to the Somerset coalfields.”

The Man Engine show told the story of 14-year-old Harry Sage, who worked as a powder boy at the colliery at Norton Hill and was brought to life by a young actor in the performance. The colliery had a good safety record, however in 1908 a pit explosion killed 10 miners.

The event was very well received and brought thousands of local people to the Somer Valley Campus.

Daisy Walsh, Commercial Director at Bath College said of the event: “We were delighted to host Man Engine at Bath College.

“Somer Valley Campus was the perfect location to host this impressive machine as it is the home of our Engineering Provision covering apprenticeships and 16+ learners and also our Construction Centre.

“It was lovely to see the local community from Radstock and the surrounding area enjoying a family day out and taking advantage of having such an exciting event on their doorstep.

“We thought the Man Engine show was so impressive and really brought the mining history of Radstock alive.”